July DT Picks

Here are July's DT picks. There were some incredible layouts, it was a tough decision

Craft Cleaning Tip #1

Are your cutting scissors all gunked up?

Try soaking a paper towel with rubbing alcohol and rubbing the gunk until it's gone. That should remove any adhesive residue from your scissors. There are also several other products on the market that would work, like Goo Gone, and even Stewart Superior's Ultra Clean.

Boring Scrapbook Page?

Are you tired of having your scrapbook pages look all the same? Ready to try something new? Want to make your page sparkle or stand out? Well listen up...

When using dotted scrapbook paper, try adding eyelets, brads or rhinestones in the circles. Go ahead, give it a try.

Paper: Loves Me DSP, pp, white, Bazzill
Accessories: ric rak, rhinestones, eyelets, acrylic paint, title block

Diaper Fold Pouch

School is resuming soon and it's always fun to have a little something in store for the new teacher. Don't give them the regular card with a gift certificate for classroom supplies, instead, opt for a cute pouch that you can fill with goodies.

To make the pouch you will need the following 3 supplies:
One square light piece card stock or double-sided patterned paper
Scoring tool
Embellishments

Step 1
Fold paper in half diagonally.

Step 2
Take one of the lower corners of your triangle and fold it over to the middle of the other triangle side.

Step 3
Take the other lower corner of the triangle and fold it over to the middle of the opposite side.

Step 4
Take one layer of your top corner and fold it down to create your pouch.

Step 5
Decorate and fill your pouch.

Variations
Change the filling. Add little note cards instead of candy.
Make it an envelope for an invitation.
Change the size. Make it smaller to add it to a card front. Make it big to hold a lot of goodies.

Made with double-sided patterned paper.

Are you Camera Shy???

And I don't mean, do you hide from getting your pictures taken..I mean...do you settle for 'auto mode' most of the time when you get your camera out? I must admit, I do. It just seems so much easier to leave it in auto then click click click. I'm envious when I see what can be done with the other settings, but just never seem to bother with it.

Maybe you don't know what the symbols mean, or why you would change? I'm going to give a brief outline, just enough for you to understand what them mean, in case you decide to use them.

Automatic mode--(usually the symbol of a camera) Use this when you want the camera to do your thinking for you

Manual Mode--(usually a capital M is the symbol) Use this so you can control all of the settings-aperture, shutter speed, white balance, flash and more.

Action Shot--(usually a symbol of an athelete) Use this to freeze action with a faster shutter speed.

Portrait Mode--(usually a symbol of a woman) Use this to emphasize your subject by producing a blurry background.

Landscape Mode--(usually a symbol of mountains) Use this for scenery shots. The camera selects a small aperture so everything remains in focus.

Macro Mode--(usually a symbol of a flower) Use this for extreme close-ups of small objects.

and finally....

Night Shot--(usually a symbol of a moon or maybe a star) Use this to take better shots at night courtesy of the slower shutter speed and flash.

I found this guide quit helpful and fully plan to be less camera shy in the future.

Good Luck and happy snapping!

Very Cool Find!!

Check out this site www.wordle.net

You can make some awesome word clouds for your scrapbook pages!!!

I played around, and even just a few words look like a great asset to any page.

Give it a try and be sure to post your layouts using this in the KC Gallery!

Are you stuck on one subject?

I want encourage all of you to go through your albums and look back and see what you have scrapped in the past. Are there subjects that are neglected in your albums? Do you find it hard to scrap your older pictures, heritage photos, perhaps people you may not have a close relationship with but mean the world to those close to you (maybe your outlaws). It's so easy to scrap the pictures of our adorable kids, the wonderful pictures we take now. But by taking a close look at our work over a long period it sometimes becomes obvious we are missing 'things'. My challenge to you is not to go sit down and do a series of layouts on that subject... if we could do that and stay motivated we would have scrapped these pictures already... rather take it one step at a time. Every once in a while step back and force yourself to create a page that is less motivating. It doesn't need to be a masterpiece, it just needs to be done.
Then go back to your layouts every once in a while and reflect on these pages and what they mean to you and your family. Sometimes my motivation doesn't come from the fact that I love the page... rather how much a page means to my husband. It sometimes helps to make it all worthwhile to know that those difficult pages we struggled over are in the end significant.